After the lok Sabha poll drubbing, the popularity of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seems to be on the wane. Post AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s multiple U-turns and his fame to jail moment, the party on Thursday decided not to go ahead with any protest. The decision came following a negligible public support outside Tihar Jail on Wednesday which forced AAP leadership to rethink its strategy.
It was certainly not a show of strength outside Tihar Jail when Kejriwal was taken into custody for refusing to furnish bail bond in the criminal defamation case. Only a handful of party workers could be seen in the ‘peaceful’ protest which threw traffic completely out of gear and compelled the police to impose Section 144 in the area. The seemingly poor response from the public forced a number of AAP leaders to convene an early morning meeting with Kejriwal at Tihar Jail where they decided not to go their trademark ‘protest’ way.
In what can also be called the initiation of campaigning for the imminent Assembly polls in the Capital, the party’s top leadership, instead, decided to launch a door-to-door contact programme to explain to people why Kejriwal was sent to jail. “We had a meeting with Arvind Kejriwal during which it was decided that the party won’t protest anymore and would launch a door-to-door campaign and tell people how an honest man like Kejriwal is behind the bars,” said journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal’s wife Sunita had criticised the media for calling her husband’s action a ‘drama’. “It is wrong the way media is presenting the entire episode,” she had said.
Advocate and former AAP National Executive Council Member, Ashok Aggarwal believes that the party ‘has missed the bus.’ “The attitude of Kejriwal changed the moment he became Delhi’s Chief Minister. He is low on confidence and thus, is resorting to the silliest acts. He is arrogant and not understanding, but unfortunately, his advisors are also following the same path,” said Aggarwal, who quit the party in March this year alleging that the party functions like a ‘private limited company’.
“Our public awareness campaign is aimed to remind people about the involvement of former BJP President Nitin Gadkari in mega land scams and his attempts to provide favours to private companies in Maharashtra. The AAP will not allow any political leader involved in corruption to escape public scrutiny and the party stands solidly behind the principled stand taken by its national convener Arvind Kejriwal in the fight against corruption,” said senior lawyer and AAP member Prashant Bhushan.